Alvin Leung says his new restaurant Bo London, located in the British capital, is a homecoming of sorts. The Hong Kong-based restaurateur was born in England, though he has spent most of his life in Hong Kong.

“It’s like a pilgrimage—back to my original beginnings,” says the 51-year-old, self-taught chef, who has made a name for himself infusing modernist techniques with Cantonese cooking at Bo Innovation. The Michelin restaurant guide for Hong Kong recently awarded it two stars.

Trained as an acoustic engineer, Mr. Leung decided nine years ago to make a business out of the inventive dinner parties he hosted at home. At Bo, he turns traditional Chinese food on its head, transforming dishes like xiao long bao, the traditional pork-and-soup dumpling, into a tiny ball of broth encased in dough-free gel, delivering the same burst of flavor in a contemporary wrapper.

Mr. Leung’s new restaurant is his first move outside Hong Kong. Located in London’s posh Mayfair neighborhood, Bo London offers 15-course tasting menus for £138. He spoke to the Journal about the new restaurant, adapting his cuisine for the English audience, and the rise of the globetrotting Asian chef. Edited excerpts are below.

The Wall Street Journal: Why did you decide to open in London?

Mr. Leung: I was born in London. I’ve always had a dream to open there. There are only three places that are important to me that I feel at home, and that’s Hong Kong, London and Toronto. Toronto will be the next one, obviously.

There’s no such a thing as “getting it.” You should just close your eyes and eat. If you like it, then you like it…I’m an engineer. There will be some flavors that are foreign, but I’m still playing with sweet, salty, bitter, sour, hot and salty. It’s universal.

You’ve also said there will be nods to the food of England. What kinds of local dishes are inspiring you?

I’m doing a steak-and-kidney xiao long bao. It’ll be a different texture, and even taste. Xiao long bao is much lighter than your traditional pie. I’m also doing a Chinese equivalent of Yorkshire pudding. It’s a very light, crispy pastry. I’m not just adding ginger or five-spice powder to the original. You should expect more from me.

Is this restaurant a gamble?

I don’t gamble with my career. You’re dealing with an engineer.

But you’re opening a fine-dining restaurant in the middle of a recession.

This is costing more than a million pounds, but it’s not a gamble. Restaurants have always been a high-risk investment. So when you invest in something like that, you better hope someone who’s running it is not just a chef, but someone who knows business and has a vision.

For a lot of people, a restaurant is about bragging rights. It’s like art. People say, “At least you can hang it on the wall.” It’s the same for a restaurant. Even if this doesn’t work out, at least you’ve had the bragging rights for a year of telling people you own a two-Michelin-star restaurant.

Fine dining is one of the few things that is recession-proof. It’s a necessity. People still do it. There may be some effect on luxury products, but people still go out. They don’t cut down on going to a good restaurant.

I’ve been up in northern China recently. There are a lot of herbs. The food is more rustic. Sure, there’s dumplings and noodles, but beyond that, they eat a lot of salad-like dishes, with raw herbs and a lot of raw vegetables. They do a lot of fermentation, and that creates a lot of interesting possibilities.

What is the influence of other Asian culinary pioneers, like David Chang, in particular, on the dining scene? Have people like him opened up the market?

David Chang paved the way, sure, but Asian cuisine has grown a lot in the last 10 years. There’s a much greater acceptance over the last 20 years. If you go back to Toronto in the 1970s—raw fish? People would think you’re nuts. Now sushi is a common staple. I can’t see why Chinese food would be any different.

I’m a bit more niche than David, though. His food is more broad, all of Asia. I’m very concentrated on Chinese food. I’m working with pure Chinese, because I think it’s still a big library to work with.

Comments (2 of 2)

Lighten UP "Truth"...unless you see Alvin's university transcipt, don't sell him off as not being a real engineer. Noise abatement is very much a research/engineering position that requires more than having a HS/GED or 'some college'.

Ervin Raab

11:52 pm December 19, 2012

Truth wrote:

Audio/Acoustic engineers are not engineers. You don't build anything, you don't take the rigorous math courses, and you definitely can't take the PE exam.